More about Gabe

Gabe is getting along with us very well. We weren't too surprised to see that he isn't walking by himself yet. He really wants to and he does pull himself up to his feet. He will walk if you hold his hands but he leans really far ahead. However, he sometime has a hard time sitting up and it really frustrates him. Once he is sitting up, he is fine. And he doesn' t like to be on his belly at all! I think getting home and being able to be more active will help build those muscles to sit up better. He is not as small as we thought either. He is wearing the 12 months clothes, but some are little snug on him. I think we will be wearing some 18 month when we get home. He talks some gibberish, although it could be Chinese and we don't know it. I have caught him saying mama a few times and I like to think it is for me. He is still on formula and rice cereal but we have heard the orphanges do that because it is much easier for feeding. We have been giving him watermelon and bananas - which he loves and he loves his steamed rolls. He is certainly a texture person because there are some things like eggs and tofu that he doesn't want anything to do with. We keep trying new things everyday. The kid likes his food! He will shake his head when he doesn't want something. Although I think his favorite thing is goldfish crackers. He goes nuts over those. We are going to head to breakfast. Brian wants to try the preserved eggs (also known as 1000 year old eggs) and he wants to document it. The eggs are black. We will post the pictures. Then we are off to the pavillion. Love to all

Culture shock

We are still in Nanchang waiting for Gabe's passport. Our next city is where the Chinese will tell you that the most exotic food is served. However, where we are now is quite an adjustment. The "fancy" restaurant we ate at in the hotel today was serving fish lips and duck tongues, among many other things. I had my staple bowl of noodles. They brought Brian the biggest bowl of rice that I have ever seen and told him, "Enjoy yourself." The staff at the hotel are very accommodating to all of the American families and their babies. However, the people on the streets are not fond of Americans. It was very different in Beijing, they were very curious and excited to see Americans. We ventured out into town today and when I saw "free range" chickens running in the sidewalks, I knew it was time to go. I am not even going to mention the smells. We are getting a little stir crazy living out of this room, but luckily we brought the portable DVD player, as we have ZERO channels in English. Even ad-libbing the Chinese soap operas has lost its appeal. We are having a great time with Gabe. Today we went to the playroom at the hotel. We met some other families there and Gabe had a blast playing with a ball. One of the hotel workers came up and tried to play with Gabe and he reached for Brian. I think he is starting to realize that we are mommy and daddy. Tomorrow we have a trip to a local pavillion. We may try to venture out and look for porcelain,as Nanchang is supposed to be one of the best places for that. We will check in tomorow.

Photos Now Available

It is Official

It is official

We got Gabe yesterday and he is such an angel. He came to mom right away and it didn't take long to warm up to dad. He didn't cry and he is a great sleeper. He doesn't like getting his hair washed and he certainly let us know. They still have him on formula, but we are starting to introduce solids. He loves watermelon and bananas. We went to the notary and registrar today and it is official. He is ours and it has been wonderful. Now we stay in Nanchang for a few days while we wait for his passport. Then it is off to Guangzhou to get his visa. We tried swimming today and he is NOT a fan. However, he likes the bath. Tomorrow is a free day and we are going to take him to a play ground in the hotel. There are several families from many agencies using this hotel. It is nice to see all of the babies and their parents. We know have internet in our room on our tv, so we will be sure to post daily. I am off to watch more Elmo!

Angela and Brian

ps from Papa Calliss: Angela and Brian sent photos also today, I am still trying to figure out how to post them on the blog - will do so just as soon as I figure it out.

United, At Last!!

Phyllis and I talked to Angela and Brian at 9:00 AM this morning (that would be 10:00 PM in the Nanchang Province, where they are now staying). We wanted to check out how things went when they met and united with Gabe. By this time they had Gabe with them for about 6 hours.
Brian reported that Gabe went for Angela immediately and warmed up to him a little later. Angela says he looks beautiful and is very good (proud mother?...maybe). As it turns out, we woke them from a deep sleep (Gabe slept through the call); although they are fatigued from all the sightseeing and travel, both sounded good, otherwise. More organized activities (official governmental paper work for Gabe, along with more sightseeing) await them Monday through Thursday, after which, they will be leaving for Gaungzhou for the final organized activities.

Getting Ready to Meet Gabe

I didn't think that I could find a place that would make me miss Beijing, but we found it. We arrived in Nanchang this morning and it isn't quite as nice as Beijing. Our hotel is good, but the area is questionable. We spent yesterday seeing sights in Beijing. We went to the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square and The Great Wall. We were passed out before 7 p.m. It was exhausting. Brian went a little further on the wall than I did. It is really impressive. I was a celebrity at Tiananmen Square. We had a little girl with red hair with us and many locals wanted their picture with her. Then, being a tall American woman, I was next. They took turns getting their picture. It was weird. Our blogspot is blocked in this province as well, so my dad will continue to post. As soon as we can get pictures up, we will. We have to run because we get Gabe in 3 hours and we have lots to do to prepare. We love you all and appreciate your continued support! We also look forward to reading your comments on the blog as soon as we can get to it.

Ang and Brian

We Have Arrived!

Hi, I am Angela's Dad and she has asked me to stand-in for her in posting to the blog because she is unable to access it from her hotel in Beijing. She has access to email and has emailed a note for me to post. That is what I will do for her until she is able to post from China.

Her note from the arrival is as follows:

We are finally in China. I have always hated flying, but that was until I flew business class. It was terrific. Big news...no quarantine.....yet...... Beijing looks pretty nice so far. We will spend tonight resting and then we will sightsee tomorrow. We are just about to have dinner, we are a little afraid of the cuisine we have seen so far. Yikes! Tomorrow we will be seeing Chinese acrobats, among some other things. We are unable to get to our blog (at least at this location) so we will continue to post via my dad. We may not get pictures up, but we will sure try. Stay tuned....we will have more tomorrow.

Ang and Brian

Almost there!

Brian and I are still trying to get everything together, as we leave tomorrow morning. Many people have checked out the blog and several have mentioned that they had a hard time leaving a message. Blogging is relatively new to me, so I apologize if I picked a difficult format. I think you actually have to register for a google account to be able to leave a message. It is kind of a pain, but we will really appreciate seeing the postings from friends and family when we are so far away. We will post as soon as we can when we arrive. If it takes a week or so, you will know that someone was sick and we were quarantined. Right now, they have told everyone to be prepared for a possible week long quarantine. I packed the cards and many books just in case. It is a little surreal to think that we will be parents in just a few days! Thanks again for all your love and support. We will make sure to get pictures of Gabe up here when we are in China just as soon as we can.

Getting closer....

Here we are, only 4 more days. I am starting to stress about the details, which is why I am up in the middle of the night. Wednesday will be here before we know it. There really isn't much to report, except that we are finally almost there. Assuming that our travel schedule continues as planned, we won't blob, (haha) I mean blog again until we get to China. Thanks again for all of the well wishes and support.

Brian and Ang

Counting the days

11 days and counting....getting very excited. We are starting to pack this weekend. We found out that we can bring 4 total bags at 70 pounds each = 280 pounds total to China. No problem....until.... We found out that our flights in China are limiting us to 2 total bags at 44 pounds each. Our suitcases alone weigh 12 pounds each. Do the math....we will have to get very creative. Most of what we will need will be for Gabe, so I am going to see if I can get packed for him today. Someone told me that for parents, pack the least you can get by on and then cut that in half. Yikes!

Other than that, we are just trying to get the house ready. We appreciate all of the support and prayers from everyone. We will keep checking in as we prepare.

Even better news....

Not only do we now have tickets for our trip, we have updates. He is currently 17.5 pounds and 74 cm tall. We also have updated pictures that we have posted. He certainly has changed from the last pictures! He looks very happy and healthy. We are so excited to meet him. China doesn't seem to buy into the whole pink is for girls thing. I think he wears it well. Only 19 more days!

Good news!

After our agency told us yesterday that our trip was put off until July, we were pretty upset. Luckily, we got another email this morning telling us to book our flight for June 24. I just got off the phone with the airline. We are set to leave in less than three weeks. Let the countdown begin!!!!